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F inal time management
As college students, you have 168 hours in each week to manage. Proper time management allows you to be more productive, reduce stress, and achieve goals and balance. Effective time management requires setting goals, prioritizing tasks, organizing your schedule, learning to say no, using waiting time productively, focusing on tasks during prime hours, celebrating successes, and avoiding time wasters. The key is working smarter, not harder, by planning, executing efficiently, and evaluating your progress.
F inal time management
- 2. Managing Time There are 168 hours in every week. How are you spending yours? Sleeping Taking a nap Going to the Gym Exercising Getting ready for class Catching up! Working on campus Commuting Shopping for groceries Getting around campus Caring for family members Playing an instrument Going out with friends Trying to unwind Cultivating a relationship Attending events on campus Meeting new people Helping a friend Going to office hours Checking email Volunteering Revising your essay Going to class Getting coffee Studying for tests Chatting with friends Doing library research Keeping in touch with family
- 3. Myths about TimeManagement Time management is nothing but common sense. I do well in school, so I must be managing my time effectively. Time No matter management? what I do, I I work better won’t have under enough pressure. time! It takes all the fun out of life!!!
- 4. The very busypeople, and to make those As college students, you are Truth! 168 hours effective, you have to do some planning. The Benefits of Time Management You are more productive. Yes! You reduce your stress. You improve your self-esteem. You achieve balance in your life. You avoid meltdowns. You feel more confident in your ability to get things done. You reach your goals. What is Time Management? Simply, making the most of your time and energy!
- 5. Obstacles to effectivetime management Unclear objectives Disorganization Inability to say “no” 5
- 6. Obstacles to effectivetime management u pt i o ns In terr More inte rru ptions s of ina ctivity Period 6
- 7. Obstacles to effectivetime management Too many things at once Stress and fatigue All work and no play 7
- 8. What can wedo? Recognize that obstacles exist Identify them Employ strategies to overcome 8
- 9. Set goals Specific Measurable 9
- 10. Set goals •Specific •Measurable Achievable Realistic Time-based 10
- 11. Prioritize Do Delegate Delay Delete 11
- 12. Prioritize 1. Address the urgent 2. Accomplish what you do can early 3. Attach deadlines to things you delay 12
- 13. TO-DO LIST NOT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT & & URGENT URGENT NOT IMPORTANT & IMPORTANT & NOT URGENT NOT URGENT
- 14. Organize 14
- 15. Learn when tosay “NO” You can’t do everything Don’t undertake things you can’t complete Remain consistent to your goals Socializing is important when you don’t have other things to worry about! Promise yourself you won’t be tempted to chat, watch movies or YouTube, or use social utilities like Face book when your deadlines are unmet. 15
- 16. Use your waitingtime On public transportation At the doctor’s office Waiting for your plane On hold When you are early 16
- 17. Use your waitingtime Correspondence Letters or memos Books or tapes 17
- 18. Consider your personalprime time Morning? Evening? Late night? 18
- 19.
- 20. Tackle Time Wasters First, learn to recognize when you’re wasting time Decide what you need to do and can realistically do. Learn how to say “NO” when you don’t have time. Use an answering machine and return calls at you convenience. The telephone is a major time killer. Learn to say “I can’t talk right now. I’ll get back to you.” Wasting time is often linked to a lack of self- discipline. Ask yourself, “Do I really need to do this or not?”
- 21. Review • Set goals • Prioritize • Organize • Learn when to say “NO” • Use your waiting time • Concentrate on the task at hand • Consider your personal prime time • Celebrate success • Tackle Time waster 21
- 22. Work Smarter NotHarder HARDER Photocopying Everything Gathering Data Before Knowing What To Do With It SMARTER Reading Accurately Once Having A Clear Strategy For Note-taking
- 23. Work Smarter NotHarder HARDER Putting difficult jobs off Doing everything, all at once SMARTER Tackling difficult tasks first Doing several things properly
- 24. Work Smarter NotHarder HARDER Pushing on regardless Gathering information just in case it is needed SMARTER Getting help before its needed Taking complete & effective notes
- 25. To work Smarterfollow these steps: PLANNING EXECUTING EVALUATING
- 26. Be In ThePresent If you want to be happy and successful focus on what is right now, use your purpose to respond to what is important now.
- 27. Learn From ThePast When you want to make the present better than the past, Look at what happened in the past, Learn something valuable from it, Do things differently in the present
- 28. Plan For TheFuture When you want to make the future better than the present See what a wonderful future would like. Make plans to help it happen Put your plan into action in the present
- 29. Time management 24 hoursis what all have in common. Yet some achieve SO MUCH in this time and some achieve NOTHING. WHY ? Let us look at an old story
- 30. Time management A KING,his attendant and the Prime Minister One day, the King looking out from his Palace window saw some settlements forming at the banks of the river. He said to the attendant “Find out what it is” The attendant ran and reported back after few minutes- “Your Highness, they are tents”. The King asked again “Where are they from”?. The attendant ran again and reported back after some time – “From Persia”
- 31. Time management The Kingasked again “How many people are there?” The attendant once again ran to find out and reported back “675 men”. “No women?” asked the King and off went the attendant again. Relentless questions and corresponding trips by the attendant followed! Attendant was already getting irritated and started wondering why the King cannot think cohesively and ask more questions in one go rather than asking one question at a time. Does the KING sound like Your BOSS ?
- 32. Time management The Kingwas already asking his 9th question to the attendant when the PM appeared. Hearing the King, the PM intervened and said “Let us discuss what all we should know about that gathering near the river” They went into a meeting for some time after which the PM went off to find out more. He was back after 2 hours. And what did he bring after being gone for 2 hours?
- 33. Time management Here wasthe PM’s report: “The tents at the banks of the river belong to a caravan of traders from Persia. There are 675 men, 210 women and 85 children. The leader of the group is ……………….. ………………. ….” The PM also said “they have 200 horses which they want to sell and I have negotiated the price at…… I need your consent on this”. The PM also explained on what all benefits the kingdom can accrue from the visit of these traders etc etc.
- 34. Time management Do Yourealize what the PM has achieved and how ? And what is the moral of the story? It does not matter how hard You work or how much Time You spend working, but what matters is HOW much You achieve in a given period of time. The PM had a meeting with the King to know what all he wante to know and in addition to that put his own thoughts and plan together to get some additional benefits for the Kingdom.
- 35. Time management So thePM made the king explain what all he wanted in one go, did proper planning, prioritized the job, did some value add of his own and above all PUT THE AVAILABLE TO BEST USE. Now how do We achieve this in day to day working life in the midst of all pressures and pulls from several bosses and colleagues? That is TIME MANAGEMENT and it is all about PRODUCTIVITY
- 36. DO IT NOW:AVOID PROCRASTINATION Let us look at some causes of procrastination •Natural laziness •Incompetence or inexperience in handling a task •Unpleasant tasks •Cluttering of routine activities •Lack of willpower •Fear of the unknown •Fear of failure •Bad habits •Waiting for more information •One may think if he puts it off, someone else will do it
- 37. What is YourTypical Day? Now that you have calculated your undefined time in a day, think of how you could utilize that time better..
- 38. What is YourTypical Day? Activity 24 Hours Your Day 75 Years Sleep 7 22 Work 10 32 Bathroom .75 2.25 Eating 1.5 4.5 Family 1 3 Socializing 1 3 Total 21.25 66.5 Undefined 2.75 8.5
- 39. Self Test HOW WISELY DO YOU MANAGE YOUR TIME? Tick the column that represents your time management style: Mostly Sometime Rarely Never s 1. Do you write to-do lists daily? 2. Do you prioritize your to-do lists so that you are able to do the most important 3. Do you finish mostfirst? items on things of the your to-do lists?
- 40. Self Test Mostly Sometime Rarely Never s 4. Do you strike a balance between the demands of your self, family and profession while planning your day? 5. Is your desk clean and organized? 6. Do you put everything in place? 7. Do you deal effectively with interruptions? 8. Can you easily find the needed information in your files? 9. Are you cheerful during work?
- 41. Self Test Mostly Sometime Rarely Never s 10. Do you allow yourself quiet time during which you can work undisturbed every 11. Do you deal effectively with callers day? who talk for long on the telephone? 12. Do you focus on preventing problems before they arise instead of solving them after they arise? 13. Do you make the best use of your time? 14.Do you meet deadlines with time to spare?
- 42. Self Test Mostly Sometime Rarely Never s 15. Are you punctual at work, meetings and events? 16. Do the subordinates cooperate enthusiastically on tasks? 17. Do you delegate tasks well? 18. When you are interrupted, can you return to your work without losing 19.Do you do something every day that momentum? moves you closer to your long-range goals?
- 43. Self Test Mostly Sometime Rarely Never s 20. Can you relax during your free time without worrying about work? 21. Do people know the best time to approach you? 22. Do you do your most important work during your peak energy hours? 23.Can others carry on most of your responsibilities if you are absent from work? 24. Do you begin and finish tasks/projects on time? 25. Do you handle each piece of paper work only once?
- 44. Don’t count everyhour in the day, make every hour in the day count.. Time is PRICELESS.
- 45. Little drops ofWater And Little Grains of Sand Make the mighty Ocean And the Pleasant land So the little Minutes Humble thought they be Make the mighty Ages Of Eternity This is the Time This is the Place This is your Life This is your Opportunity Seize the Day Use this Moment ACT NOW
Editor's Notes
- #6 Note: You may wish to add personal experiences as examples of one or more of the obstacles to enhance the presentation. There are a lot of things that make it difficult for us to manage our time effectively. Let’s consider some of the most common ones, and see if they apply to us: Unclear objectives – It’s hard to hit a target with your eyes closed, and it’s just as hard to accomplish something when you aren’t exactly clear about what you want to achieve Disorganization – It’s easy to see when your desk is too messy, but sometimes you have to step back and ask yourself if you are taking an organized approach in completing all of your tasks Inability to say “no” – We all want to be as helpful as we can when others need us, but this can mean taking time away from other priorities to do something we may not have planned
- #7 Interruptions – Many times we are in the middle of accomplishing something really important and the telephone rings. These calls can not only take you away from your task, but sometimes they interrupt your train of thought and you can’t return to where you were without retracing your steps More interruptions – We all like to visit with others, but conversations at inappropriate times can cost us time when we have to stop what we are doing and redirect ourselves from our plans Periods of inactivity – As much as we think we are busy, there are times in our day when we are not really doing anything. Recognizing and making use of these times can have a positive effect on our efforts
- #8 Too many things at once – Many of our tasks are not routines. They require concentration to detail. When we are attempting to do too many different things at one time, each individual task suffers as a result Stress and fatigue – Everyone experiences stress from time to time, and sometimes we actually operate a little better when there is some level of stress. Too much stress, on the other hand, causes our work to suffer and wears us down physically and mentally. Dealing with stress is an important part of time management All work and no play – Most successful people know how to balance work and play. When work takes over your life, you not only give your body little time to re-energize, but you may end up sacrificing the really important things in life like family and friends
- #9 The obstacles that we face are not insurmountable. Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is to identify that these obstacles exist and are affecting your ability to manage your time When you have identified your obstacles you can begin to overcome them Here are some strategies you can use to overcome the obstacles we just examined:
- #10 The first, and most important strategy you can employ to manage your time is to set clear goals for yourself. As a Lions leader, you will want to accomplish many things in your time of office. The best favor you can do for yourself is to determine what those goals are and make sure your efforts are always directed toward their achievement. Effective goals share a number of characteristics in common. Effective goals are: Specific – When a goal is too vague, you may never know how to reach it or even whe n you have reached it. Make sure that you know exactly what you hope to achieve Measurable – When you have a goal that is measurable, you will know how far you have to go to reach the goal, and when you get there Note: You may wish to provide an example of a vague, unmeasurable goal, and then a specific, measurable goal here. For instance, “I will support extension in my district” is a vague goal, while “I will establish five new clubs in my district is both specific (new clubs) and measurable (five).
- #11 Achievable – It is commendable to set your sights high, but sometimes we try to accomplish more than we can actually do. Training and certifying ten Certified Guiding Lions in your district in one year may or may not be achievable at this time for a number of reasons. Your goals should be such that, if you “extend yourself” you can just reach them. Realistic – Can you establish a program in your district to help everyone with vision problems? It is certainly a worthwhile goal, but it may not be realistic at this time. It might be better to work on setting up a program with schools to provide vision testing and eyeglasses for disadvantaged children. Note: You may wish to provide an example of an achievable, realistic goal that you have achieved or observed in your own club or district. Time-based – Most of the goals that you establish in your position as a Lions leader will not be long-term. It is important to set time guidelines for your goals, so that you can keep track of your progress as you are going along and can be alert to when you are falling behind schedule. Note: You may wish to state a goal that meets the five characteristics, and ask participants to explain how each characteristic is met. For example, “We will increase retention of current members in my district by reducing the dropout rate to X % by the end of the fiscal year.” Further, you may wish to provide a non-example and ask participants to restate it to meet the five characteristics. For example, “We will improve the service we provide to our community.”
- #12 As a leader in your club or district, you will be faced with many tasks. It is safe to say that you will not be able to do everything, so it is wise to periodically make a list of the tasks that confront you and prioritize them. The following technique may be helpful in prioritizing: Note: You may wish to provide examples of tasks that you have placed in each of the four categories that follow. Explain why you made the decision, and how it positively impacted your time management. Do – Determine from the list the things you think are most important to accomplish, and are things you should do yourself. Delegate – Remember that there many Lions within your district with skills, experience, and motivation to carry out a wide variety of tasks. A truly effective district governor understands that real leaders do not try to accomplish everything themselves and recognizes that some things are better handled by others. Delegating not only frees up your time for other things, it ensures that resources are used wisely and that Lions who want to help are motivated and involved. Delay until another time – Some things can wait. The danger is delaying too many things until deadlines are near. The best policy here is to consider when things are due, how long it will take to accomplish them, and what your current workload will allow . For instance, registrations and request forms that are not yet due could be sent to LCI earlier if you have time. It makes sense to delay things that are not due when your are “overburdened” and to accomplish them ahead of time when you can. Delete – If you have set goals using the guidelines we mentioned earlier, you may recognize that some of them are not achievable or realistic, or that they are just not important. A good leader knows when to concentrate on the important and eliminate the rest. Note: As time allows, you may wish to: Ask selected participants to share tasks that they will prioritize into the four categories Break participants into small groups and ask them to create a list of DG tasks that could be prioritized using the four categories
- #13 It is important when you have prioritized your tasks that you: Address the urgent – Take care of things with short-term consequences as soon as possible. Accomplish what you can early – Reports, registrations, requests that can be handled early should come next. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Attach deadlines to things you delay – When you have determined that something can definitely wait, don’t just toss it aside until later. Establish a deadline for the task in your schedule, and make a note to remind you to begin working on it. Note: You may wish to emphasize the 80/20 rule here. (20% of your tasks can take 80% of your time.) This is a good point to keep in mind as you prioritize tasks.
- #14 Give examples
- #15 As you prioritize tasks and set deadlines, you will want to organize your plans and actions. Some of you may be more comfortable using paper and pencil, so I urge you to make use of a planner with a calendar and plenty of space to make notes. Many planners contain not only calendar space, but also room for daily activities, contact information, and “to do” lists. Find a planner that fits your needs and use it. You will find this to be an indispensable tool for managing your time. Maybe you use, or would consider using, a computer to help in organizing your time. Today’s computers often come equipped with software programs that include calendars, task lists, reminders, and contact information. If your computer does not have such a function, software is readily available that you can install. You may also consider a small personal digital assistant, or PDA. These devices are small enough to fit in your hand, and use the same software your home computer uses. PDAs are helpful tools when you are away from your computer during the day or are traveling on business. Note: This would be a good opportunity to share whatever tools you use to stay organized. If you use a planner, bring it out and show how you use it. If you use computer software, explain the program and how it helps you. You may also ask participants if they have any other organizational ideas, like reminder files for each week or month. Whatever method you choose, make sure you organize your tasks so that you can stay on track.
- #16 The strategies we have mentioned so far have all concerned common business practices. Now I would like to address some more “personal” strategies that you can apply to your life. These also have a great impact on how effectively you manage your time. The first of these strategies is being able to say “NO” when it is appropriate. Your life in Lions has always been about giving all that you can to serve your community. That doesn’t change, but as your duties expand as a Lions leader you will find you are called on to do much more than you have ever been asked to do before. When you learn to say “NO” you are not closing the door on your responsibilities, but rather you are making sure that you can meet your commitments and accomplish the maximum possible in the time available to you. To be able to say “NO” you will have to accept these three principles: I realize that I can’t do everything I won’t agree to undertake a task or project that I know I will not be able to complete in the timeframe required I will not make commitments that are not consistent with the goals and objectives I have set for myself If you keep these principles in mind, you will find it easier to justify (and explain) why some requests must be turned down. You will also find that you are better able to accomplish the things that you have prioritized as “must do.”
- #17 Another personal time management skill is to make good use of your “waiting time.” Have you ever thought about how much time you spend doing nothing during an average day? Usually this is not a situation where you planned to do nothing…it just happened. Think about all of the things you could accomplish if you could make use of this time. For instance: Time you spend commuting on a train or bus Time you wait at the doctor or dentist office for your appointment Time you spend on a plane, waiting for your plane, or the time you spend waiting for your baggage Time you spend “on hold” on the telephone Time you spend when you arrive at work or at a meeting earlier than you had anticipated Note: You may include other examples or ask participants for their own ideas. There are two ways to look at these periods of time. You can either consider them as “wastes of time” or as “gifts of time.” If you choose to think of them as gifts of time, you can use them as opportunities to accomplish routine tasks that are necessary, but don’t require large periods of time. Most successful people have already found that there are a number of things that they can accomplish while they wait.
- #18 The trick to making use of your waiting time is to always make sure you have something with you that you can accomplish in the event that you are kept waiting. For instance: Reading correspondence – Take your mail with you and read it while you are waiting or traveling. Some PDAs have e-mail capability, so you can read your e-mail on a train or plane or at the doctor’s office Writing letters or memos – While you wait, you can take out a notepad or use a PDA to write letters or memos. This could also be a good time to update your planner Reading or listening to tapes – Carry a book or magazine or a tape with you. You can also download books and articles to your PDA. There is often no time in your schedule to keep current on books or articles related to your business or to self-improvement. Instead of being impatient when you are delayed, this could be a perfect time to advance your own knowledge and skills. Note: This would be a good time to describe some ways you personally fill the “waiting times” in your schedule, and how you feel it has helped you manage your time overall.
- #19 Are you one of those people who gets up before the sun rises and starts working? Is the early evening, after the evening meal, your time to work? Or are you someone who prefers to wait until the quiet of the late night hours to do the really hard tasks? Everyone is different. Most research shows that tasks that take the most mental concentration are most effectively accomplished early in the day, but even these studies acknowledge that this is not always true, and that everyone has a “personal prime time.” When you plan your tasks, think about your own “prime time.” If you do your best work early, plan to do the routine tasks later in the day and concentrate on the more challenging tasks when you are at your best. If you don’t really get going until later, handle the routines in the morning and save the more difficult tasks for later.
- #20 Celebrate the achievement of your goals to maintain a healthy balance in life between work and play. Reward yourself when you complete a task or finish a project. If you worked in a team setting, or delegated some tasks to others, reward the efforts of all involved. Celebration is a vital part of all project management. No matter how tight your schedule looks, this is TIME WELL SPENT!
- #22 Note: Review the strategies for time management that you have presented.